Manchester United suffered one of the most demoralising results of the Michael Carrick era on Wednesday, surrendering a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford — crashing out of the Carabao Cup in the third round for the second consecutive season.

It is the first time in 50 years that United have squandered a two-goal home advantage and gone on to lose the match. In the 145 previous occasions they had raced into such a lead at Old Trafford, they had converted it into victory 143 times.

A dream start, then silence

United could hardly have asked for a better opening. Teenager Shea Lacey, on his full debut, drifted past two Brighton defenders and tucked the ball inside the near post in the 8th minute. Forty-three seconds after the restart, Mason Mount doubled the advantage after Jason Steele had initially denied Marcus Rashford.

From that point, however, United's performance deteriorated sharply. They would not register another shot on target until the 76th minute — a damning statistic that speaks to the complete loss of momentum in the second half.

Brighton's stunning comeback

Brighton, who made six changes for this cup tie, grew in confidence and began to expose United's fragility. Charalampos Kostoulas pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, beating Karl Darlow to a long ball, despite United's protests that Benjamin Sesko had been fouled in the build-up.

The Seagulls then struck twice in four second-half minutes to complete a stunning turnaround. Pascal Gross converted from close range in the 65th minute after Sesko headed back a 50-50 ball, before substitute Maxim De Cuyper finished a move initiated by Diego Gomez's driving run to make it 3-2 in the 69th minute.

Bruno Fernandes was introduced as an emergency substitute, and Rashford was played in on goal in the 76th minute — only for Steele to deny him at the near post. Brighton then wasted two further chances to kill the contest, with Leny Yoro clearing a Kostoulas effort off the line and Darlow saving from Gomez.

More questions for Carrick

The defeat is not quite as jarring as the second-round exit at Grimsby that Ruben Amorim endured last season, but it carries its own weight. Carrick faces mounting scrutiny after a result that eliminates one of United's most realistic chances of silverware in 2026-27 — and compounds the damage inflicted by their recent Manchester derby defeat.